‘Wow!’ CNN’s Dana Bash Stunned By ‘Disgusting Trend’ Of Trump Admin Using ‘Coded’ White Nationalist Neo-Nazi Language

CNN anchor Dana Bash was taken aback by the Trump administration’s “coded” language echoing “Neo-Nazi” and “White Nationalist” rhetoric, exclaiming “Wow!” before leading a segment relentlessly calling it out.

CNN senior writer Zach Wolf did a deep dive on the way various Trump agencies have used language that his analysis determined was designed to appeal to White Nationalists.

On Thursday’s edition of CNN’s Inside Politics, Bash ticked through several examples as she introduced Wolf, and called the language a “pretty disgusting trend.”

Bash and a panel of Wolf, Tia Mitchell, and David Chalian then spent several minutes dispensing punishing criticism of the administration:

DANA BASH: As the Trump administration ramps up its immigration crackdown, ICE is looking to expand its ranks, and their recruitment push on social media is echoing some rhetoric that has been linked to White Nationalist groups.

Like this ad from DHS that says, quote, “America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need you to get them out.”.

Or this message: “Will have our home again,” adding, quote, “Join ICE.”.

These ads appear to be a nod to the far-right replacement theory, which is the belief that White people are being replaced by immigrants.

Now, there’s also this DHS ad that says, “The stakes have never been higher and the goal has never been more clear, re-immigration now.”.

That term has roots in neo-Nazi ideology, refers to what critics say is a form of ethnic cleansing.

And now the Trump administration? They’re using it.

The State Department is even creating an “Office of Re-immigration.”.

As my colleague Zach Wolf details in a new piece that you really need to read on CNN.com.

It’s coded language and it is part of a pretty disgusting trend across the Trump administration. And Zach is here now.

Um… Wow!

ZACH WOLF: Yeah, wow! And I mean, the first thing you want to do is prove or show definitively that this language is coded.

I talked to people at the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, you know, is that term, you’ll have your country back, a White Nationalist term. And, you know they sent me, you know quotes from Telegram, posts that links to the Proud Boys where before the Trump administration in recent years, that term is used. There’s song that White Nationalists have listened to that you know, uses that term. So certainly proud boys, White Nationalists would see that poster and feel comfortable and feel happy about what the administration is doing. But there’s also the element that this is not even that coded. I mean, in that image, you have the cowboy racing across the plane to rescue the country, you know. And this goes all over these DHS recruitment ads in particular, but it extends way beyond that. I mean, if you start looking at other social media posts. Other things. You talked about remigration. That’s one that the experts are really concerned about because of the neo-Nazi ties to it. But the Department of Labor, they have…

DANA BASH: Yeah, I want to play that. So you mentioned, and this is important, it isn’t just DHS as they’re recruiting. Just watch a little snippet of what is coming out of the Department of Labor. “One homeland, one people, one heritage. Remember, you’re an America”.

And we’re going to put up some other posts that they put on social media.

ZACH WOLF: Yeah, I mean, you don’t need to go to the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism to see that one heritage is going to be language that appeals to White Nationalists.

There are, of course, many heritages in this country, you know, the melting pot. So that language is disturbing, I think, in any event. You don’t have to show that it’s coded.

TIA MITCHELL: I just, the reason why I think there are people at home like, okay, so what, but here’s why this is problematic.

When you’re thinking about the potential of our federal government recruiting people who are White Nationalists or have White Nationalist leanings, then these become the people who may be interacting with you as federal law enforcement.

They may be in a hiring position and therefore not excluding certain candidates. It’s like there could be real repercussions for years and decades to come if these messaging, this messaging is leading to, you know, different people joining the federal workforce. There’s one other thing I want to talk about.

DANA BASH: Want to show, which is a little bit more coded, I think, if you have to know to know. This is a post from the White House just yesterday. “.

Which way Greenland man?”.

And the same kind of post from DHS in August. “Which way American man?”.

Well, in 1978, there was a White supremacist, William Gaylee Simpson, who wrote, “Which way Western man?”.

And among the things that he wrote is “Race consciousness and discrimination on the basis of race are absolutely essential to any race’s survival and to any nation’s survival. That is why the Jews are so fiercely for it themselves because they mean not only to survive but to become master and fiercely against it for us because we are their intended victim.”

DAVID CHALIAN: Let’s just say, as Zach said, some of this isn’t all that coded.

OK, let me give the full benefit of the doubt to the people that are creating this for a moment here.

Even if this is not intentional, even if this not by design to recruit White Nationalists, when you see that there is comparisons, that there are language comparisons and efforts, why wouldn’t you just stop, dead in your tracks and be like, we want no part of this. We don’t want this to be part of our group.

DANA BASH: It created a department in the state department. That’s what I’m saying.

DAVID CHALIAN: So I’m being like, falsely kind here for a second, and charitable, but still, the moment you see that there are valid comparisons, why don’t you stop dead in your tracks and say, this is not for us, this isn’t how we wanna go about this.

DANA BASH: I think that was rhetorical.

DAVID CHALIAN: It was.

Watch above via CNN’s Inside Politics.

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